The Department of Information and Communications Technology has initiated and commenced scaling up inclusive digitalization in the agricultural value chain.
Minister for Information and Communications Technology, Timothy Masiu, revealed this during a discussion with the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations QU Dongyu in Dakar, Bangladesh, during the 36th United Nations FAO Asia Pacific Regional Conference this month.
Minister Masiu said the planning and coordination of the agriculture sector was led by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock, which was implementing one of the APRC's agenda items in scaling up inclusive digitalization in the agricultural value chain.
“PNG as a member of the UN has maintained warm and friendly relations with member States enjoying knowledge sharing and technical assistance in areas of agriculture,” he said.
Minister Masiu informed that FAO through the European Union 11 European Development Fund (Il EDF) was implementing the EU Support Towards Rural Entrepreneurship, Investment and Trade in PNG (STREIT PNG). Adding that the EUSTREIT-PNG is focused in the East and West Sepik provinces and has components of the program based on digitalizing the value chain of key commodities such as vanilla and cocoa. “ICT has been part of the EU-STREIT PNG program through the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and provided technical assistance in the development of the Sepik e-Agriculture Master Plan.”
Minister Masiu told the meeting that the Government's Digital Transformation Policy 2020 has set the basis for digitalizing government services within government agencies, to citizens, and with businesses in the PNG context.
He said the Digital Government Bill when enacted will enable digital transformation in public service delivery and adoption strategies to enhance the agriculture value chain.
The Government has also given its endorsement for the Ministry of ICT to run a private cloud with Amazon Web Services, which will enable access to infrastructure, platform, and software-as-a-service cloud solutions.
Minister Masiu said this was important as an endorsed platform for national security and market access. He said PNG's Universal Access Services policy and operation were being reviewed to seek the policy objectives of affordability, meaningful connectivity, and accessibility.
“The integration of these technologies in agriculture is vital to support the pre-production, production and post-production phases of agriculture value chains,” said Minister Masiu.
He added that as all sectors in society continue to adopt digital solutions, post COVID-19, it is important that suitable e-agriculture solutions take advantage of the emerging opportunities and innovation driven.